Hedgehog bus

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Igelbus with bicycle trailer near Finsterau

Two bus systems in the Bavarian Forest National Park are known as hedgehog buses , which run daily around the two national park centers Rachel-Lusen and Falkenstein in the summer season from May to November and during the two Bavarian winter school holidays. They are integrated into the Bavarian Forest national park traffic concept.

history

The "National Park Line East" between Schönbrunn am Lusen , Hohenau , Neuschönau and Mauth / Finsterau is the predecessor line of the Rachel-Lusen-Igelbusse . This was set up on June 2, 1991 and ran daily with three pairs of buses that year until October 27. This line was operated by the Prager bus company. The tariff was set at a unit price of 3 DM (approx. 1.53 euros) per trip or 4.50 DM (approx. 2.30 euros) for a return ticket. Three quarters of the costs for this bus route were borne by the communities of Hohenau, Mauth and Neuschönau, the district of Freyung-Grafenau , and the Free State of Bavaria . A quarter of the costs were covered by fare income.

As part of a diploma thesis at the “Friedrich List” Faculty of Transport Science at the Technical University of Dresden , the local transport concept Igelbusse was developed for this tourist transport. This started on May 15, 1996. It supplemented the slightly modified National Park Line East with three more lines.

In 2001 , several minibus routes were set up from Zwiesel to establish the connections to the Falkenstein and Arber hiking areas . Two of these lines are called the Falkenstein Line and were also called Igelbusse from 2007 onwards.

From the beginning of the 2010 Christmas holidays until May 15, 2011, winter hedgehog buses are to run continuously in the Rachel Lusen area for the first time. The financing of the necessary 126,000 euros additional costs are to be covered by the municipalities participating in the GUTi , the Freyung-Grafenau district as well as fare income and a GUTi share. In the Falkenstein area, the clocks are compressed on weekends in the winter months. The Regen district bears the additional costs of 16,000 euros.

As part of the reactivation of the Passau – Freyung railway line , on September 11, 2010, three more bus lines were introduced from Freyung and Waldkirchen. These operate on weekends and public holidays from the end of April to the end of October. The weakly accepted Freyung – Finsterau bus route was discontinued in 2012. The other two lines were expanded for this purpose and the connection in the direction of Finsterau via Neuschönau was established.

In 2012 the project was extended for another 5 years until 2017.

The individual bus routes

Newly built bus station in Grafenau

Summer season

Rachel-Lusen bus system

  • Rachelbus
The Rachel hiking area is served from the Park + Ride car park in Spiegelau every half hour (towards Gfung) or hourly (towards the Racheldiensthütte).
  • Lusenbus
The Lusen hiking area is served every hour from Neuschönau . There are direct connections to Grafenau with a connection to the Waldbahn every two hours.
  • Darkaubus
The cross connection Spiegelau to Finsterau / Bučina runs with six pairs of buses per day. At the border crossing there is the possibility to switch to the bus system of the Šumava National Park , the so-called “green buses”, which was set up in 1996 . A new terminus near the border was built here in July 2012. Before that, it was necessary to walk about 800 m to switch between the two bus systems. In Spiegelau there is a connection to the forest railway. The buses on this line run with a bicycle trailer. Bicycles are free of charge.
  • Freyungbus
A single pair of buses is offered between Freyung and Neuschönau on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This connects the health clinics on Geyersberg in Freyung with the hiking opportunities in the national park.
  • RBO line 6119
The regular RBO ring bus route Grafenau – Neuschönau – Waldhäuser – Riedlhütte – Grafenau is tariff integrated into the hedgehog bus system as a partial parallel service to various Igelbus routes. However, there are no changes in the course of the Igelbus system. This line does not meet the quality criteria of the other Igelbus lines in terms of frequency, vehicle use and operating times.

Falkenstein bus system

The two lines of the so-called Falkensteinbus have been running all year round in the Falkenstein area since 2001. Every hour, these lines connect Zwiesel train station with the hiking areas on the Großer Falkenstein in the direction of Zwieslerwaldhaus and Scheuereck and the Haus zur Wildnis national park information center . There is a connection to the Waldbahn trains at Zwiesel station.
Since 2007, these buses also bear the term Igelbusse, which is protected by the Freyung-Grafenau district .

Ilztalbahn buses

In order to develop the eastern part of the district and to connect the reactivated Ilz Valley Railway with the surrounding area, three more bus routes will be introduced on September 11, 2010. These run from Freyung via Neuschönau to Lusen, from Freyung via Mauth to Buchwald and from Waldkirchen via Neureichenau to Haidmühle. In March 2011, the German-Czech LEADER advisory committee decided on the construction of a transfer hub from the Ilz Valley railway buses to the Czech trains at Nove Udolí station near Haidmühle. In the 2011 season, 3,923 euros were collected in fare income.
The traffic was changed for the 2012 driving season. Since then, a line has been running from the Lusen National Park Center near Neuschönau to Freyung. A second line runs from Waldkirchen to Haidmühle on the border at Nove Udolí. Six pairs of buses are offered on each of these two lines. Two of these pairs of buses are connected and run from Haidmühle to Neuschönau. Another trip from Haidmühle ends in Freyung. The costs for the entire driving season amount to 61,000 euros. These are covered by fare income, the Freyung-Grafenau district and public transport grants from the Free State of Bavaria.

Winter season

Rachel Lusen area

During the Christmas and Carnival school holidays, there is a connection on the Klingenbrunn – Spiegelau – Finsterau – Mitterfirmiansreuth route that is specifically aimed at cross-country skiers and skiers. There are two buses per day in each direction. Since the 2009/10 winter season, these buses have been fully financed by the municipalities. This means that the journey is free for passengers. In addition, two more ski buses, each consisting of a pair of buses, have been set up from Grafenau and Freyung to Mitterfirmiansreuth since this year. These are also free for passengers. The total costs of 14,236 euros are covered 50% by the Freyung-Grafenau district and 50% by the municipalities of Spiegelau, St. Oswald-Riedlhütte, Neuschönau and Mauth as well as the Mitterfirmiansreuth association.
In the 2010/2011 season, winter operations were expanded as the number of passengers increased significantly. Two lines were set up, from Klingenbrunn via Neuschönau to Waldhäuser am Lusen, and from Grafenau via Neuschönau to Finsterau. These lines are each served by four instead of two pairs of buses. There are also buses running daily from December 25th until May 15th. The two free bus pairs from Grafenau and Freyung to Mitterfirmiansreuth will continue to exist.

Falkenstein area

In the Falkenstein area, too, the hedgehog buses run with slightly different routes in the winter season to the hiking and cross-country skiing routes around the Großer Falkenstein.

Connection protection

There are connections between the bus lines. Rachel and Lusen buses have a correspondence stop in the direction of Rachel / Lusen at the Diensthüttenstraße stop, and in the direction of Neuschönau / Spiegelau at the Graupsäge stop . Lusen and Finsterau buses and the weekly Freyung bus are connected to each other at the Lusen National Park Information Center in Neuschönau.

The Falkenstein buses are coordinated with the rhythm of the forest railways in Zwiesel station. There is a connection between bus and train.

Tariff system

Both the buses in the Rachel-Lusen area and the buses in the Falkenstein area have their own tariff system, which differs from the in-house tariffs of the RBO and the Lambürger bus company .

The buses in the Rachel-Lusen area have a tariff system that consists of three-tier, distance-dependent single tickets and one-day, three-day and season tickets (until 2010) / annual tickets (from 2011).

The buses in the Falkenstein area have a uniform tariff for single tickets. A day pass is also offered here, which is also valid for the Zwiesel city bus.

In addition, the Bayerwald ticket and guest cards with the “ GUTi ” are valid as tickets.

Vehicles and operators

The buses of the lines in the Rachel-Lusen area are operated by the Regionalbus Ostbayern . Initially, seven natural gas-powered buses of the type Neoplan N 316 Ü CNG with an output of 180 kW were used between 1996 and 2002. These were replaced in 2003 by seven Neoplan Centroliner N 4416 Ü CNG with an output of 250 kW. The buses were low-floor , had a kneeling function and a trailer coupling for the bicycle trailer. In 2010, an optical and acoustic passenger information system was retrofitted. Since the natural gas drive, which according to the RBO requires a lot of maintenance and repair, has not proven itself and the performance on the steep mountain roads leaves a lot to be desired, it was decided to use modern diesel buses for the upcoming new acquisition from 2013. All buses are located at the Passau site and at Reismühle near Grafenau. The two lines from Freyung to Neuschönau are an exception. These are provided by the subcontractor Prager Reisen from Freyung in a minibus. A total of eleven drivers are deployed, who cover 250,000 bus km per year.

In the Falkenstein area, the bus company Lambürger uses " Mercedes Sprinter " minibuses, both for city ​​buses and in the direction of Arber .

Financing and costs

The total costs of the four Igelbus routes in the Rachel-Lusen area amount to around € 490,000 per year. Around a third each is borne by fare income, the Free State of Bavaria and the municipalities of Spiegelau, St. Oswald-Riedlhütte, Neuschönau, Hohenau, Mauth-Finsterau, Grafenau and Freyung, as well as the Freyung-Grafenau district. The two hedgehog bus routes in the Falkenstein area are run by the municipalities of Lindberg and Zwiesel. In 2013, the Regen district contributed a total of € 34,000 to its financing.

The RBO stated the net costs for the current contract from 2013 to 2017 at 659,000 euros per year. The Free State of Bavaria's share was € 100,000 until 2012 and then increased to € 135,000. These are generated from parking lot revenues in the national park area.

Due to rising costs and falling income, the reduced annual ticket for locals was abolished at the beginning of the 2013 summer season.

For the 2013/14 season, the Freyung-Grafenau district will be responsible for the winter hedgehog buses in the Rachel-Lusen area. As before, the participating municipalities also bear half of the subsidy requirement of 117,300 euros per season.

In 2015, the Free State of Bavaria is donating € 36,000 from the parking lot revenue from the Haus zur Wildnis in Ludwigsthal to finance the summer half-year for the Falkenstein buses.

Financial data of the Rachel Lusen Igelbus system

year total cost Fare income Grant of
the
Freyung-Grafenau district		 Subsidy
municipalities		 Grant from the
Free State of Bavaria		 Subsidy
government of Lower Bavaria
(including allocation to
municipalities and district) 		Passenger numbers
1999 285,000 DM (145,000 euros)
2000 997,908 DM (510,222 euros) 267,194 DM (136,614 euros)
2001 1,011,442 DM (517,142 euros) 235,964 DM (120,646 euros)
2002 127,823 euros 100,000
2003 490,000 euros 160,000 euros 193,000 euros 93,000 euros 100,000 euros 94,200
2004 100,000 euros 398,082.50 euros
2005 100,000 euros 227,267.50 euros
2006 80,000 euros 141,790 euros 100,000 euros 235,502.50 euros 95.710
2007 100,000 euros 274,472.50 euros
2008 500,000 euros 200,000 euros 100,000 euros 292,533.75 euros 100,000
2009 100,000 euros
2010 100,000 euros approx. 100,000
2011
2012 500,000 euros approx. 155,000 euros 111,000 euros 100,000 euros > 100,000
2013 570,000 euros 115,000 euros 135,000 euros 100,000

In 2012, a total of 26,865 passengers ran on the Finsteraulinie. 83% of the passengers used the GUTi ticket.

Road closures

During the operating hours of the Igelbuses, the municipalities closed several of them on public roads protruding into the national park to private car traffic for environmental reasons.

On Rachel, for example, Gfallstrasse and Diensthüttenstrasse, on Lusen, Lusenstrasse above Waldhäuser, as well as Böhmstrasse and in Finsterau, Buchwaldstrasse are temporarily closed from the outskirts to the border crossing.

Park and ride

In Grafenau, Neuschönau, Spiegelau and Ludwigsthal, large park-and-ride opportunities have been created so that it is easy to switch from private cars to buses and trains from the national park transport concept. In addition, there are parking spaces at the beginning of the above-mentioned closed public roads for changing to the hedgehog buses.

Take your bike and skis with you

Bicycles can be taken along on the Spiegelau – Finsterau connection using a bicycle trailer. In winter you can take cross-country and alpine skis with you. It is planned to equip all buses with bike racks at the rear so that other connections can also offer this service. RBO tests with bicycle racks at the rear of the buses were carried out from May to September 2010 in the Passau district and are to be expanded in 2011.

plans

Instead of a bicycle trailer, bicycle racks that are permanently installed on the back of the buses are to be procured in the future. Thus, the possibility of taking bicycles should be offered on all lines. On May 1, 2010, the RBO started an experiment with 20 buses on four lines departing from Passau. The bike racks tested here can transport up to 5 bikes hanging next to each other.

A year-round expansion of bus traffic is also under discussion. Since mid-December 2010 this has been achieved by expanding the winter hedgehog buses. While these previously only operated during the Christmas and Mardi Gras holidays, they have been running every day since the end of 2010 until the start of the summer season.

Sponsorships

The individual communities in the Freyung-Grafenau district involved in the Igelbus system took on sponsorships for individual buses. They have attached the respective coat of arms of their godfather to the driver's door:

  • R JN 733 - Bavarian Forest National Park
  • R JN 735 - Hohenau
  • R JN 736 - Mauth-Frauenau
  • R JN 737 - Neuschönau
  • R JN 738 - Spiegelau
  • R JN 739 - St. Oswald-Riedlhütte
Spiegelau station with the option of changing from Waldbahn to Igelbus

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Koishüttler Gemeindeblatt July 1991 edition "A new bus line connects Neuschönau with the municipality of Mauth"
  2. ↑ B. Richter: "Creating and implementing a total public transport offer in a national park region", diploma thesis 1997
  3. ↑ Bayerwald-Bote July 29, 2010 Local part Zwiesel: "From this season, Igelbuses also run in winter"
  4. ↑ Bayerwald-Bote 13th September 2010 Local section Viechtach: "No direct bus from Arnbruck to Teisnach"
  5. ↑ a b c Passauer Neue Presse - Local: "Igelbus: Innovations cause displeasure", June 6, 2013
  6. ↑ Grafenauer Anzeiger: “Final stops at the Buchwald border crossing only 100 meters away” ( Memento from May 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), July 5, 2012
  7. ↑ Passauer Neue Presse local section Passau Land November 13, 2010 "Network Danube-Ilz-Moldau is growing"
  8. ↑ a b Passauer Neue Presse local section Freyung-Grafenau April 27, 2011 “News from the Ilztalbahn and a review”
  9. ↑ RBO Passau: Bus connection to the Ilztalbahn ( memento of the original from September 11, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed: May 2, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / rbo.de
  10. ↑ Koishüttler Gemeindeblatt October 2009 "GR meeting of September 17, 2009"
  11. ↑ Koishüttler Gemeindeblatt November 2009 "GR meeting of October 15, 2009"
  12. ↑ a b c d Passauer Neue Presse - Freyung: The Igelbuses keep rolling - but differently, July 26, 2012
  13. ↑ Bayerwald Bote Regen: Money for summer bus routes to Arber and Falkenstein, March 20, 2013
  14. ^ Passauer Neue Presse - Freyung: Financing of the "Igelbusse" secured, August 28, 2010
  15. ^ Passauer Neue Presse - Freyung: From the district committee, July 24, 2013
  16. ↑ Bayerwald Bote Regen: 66,000 euros for public transport services, April 25, 2015
  17. ↑ Written request to the Bavarian State Government of the MPs Maria Scharfenberg, Eike Hallitzky, Dr. Christian Magerl BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN from August 6, 2009 (PDF; 4.8 MB)
  18. ↑ Annual report of the Bavarian Forest National Park 2000 (page 36)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de
  19. ↑ Annual report of the Bavarian Forest National Park 2001 (page 30)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de
  20. ↑ Annual report of the Bavarian Forest National Park 2002 (page 33)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de
  21. ↑ "Bayerwald-Ticket and Igelbusse as an example for other regions and potential for improvement" (page 24) Lecture at the VCD conference "Zügig in den Bayerischen Wald" December 8, 2003 (PDF; 2.4 MB)
  22. ↑ Annual report of the Bavarian Forest National Park 2003 (page 35)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de
  23. ↑ Annual report of the Bavarian Forest National Park 2004 (page 28)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de
  24. ^ Annual report of the Bavarian Forest National Park 2005 (page 34)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de
  25. ↑ Annual report of the Bavarian Forest National Park 2006 (page 35)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de
  26. ^ Passauer Neue Presse: Igelbuses continue despite deficits, November 21, 2007
  27. ↑ Bavarian Forest National Park Administration: Annual Report 2007. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de. May 2008, p. 31 , formerly in the original ; accessed on June 4, 2018 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de  
  28. ↑ Bavarian Forest National Park Administration: Annual Report 2008. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de. March 2009, p. 34 , formerly in the original ; accessed on June 4, 2018 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.bayern.de  
  29. ^ Grafenauer Anzeiger: Kurkarte as a bus ticket, February 21, 2009
  30. ↑ bayerwald-ticket.com: Igelbuses start the summer season  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / bayerwald-ticket.com
  31. ^ Passauer Neue Presse - Freyung: Igelbuses start the summer season, May 15, 2013
  32. ^ Passauer Neue Presse - Freyung: Recounted, April 26, 2014
  33. ^ Passauer Neue Presse - Freyung: From the Mauth municipal council, May 4, 2013
  34. ^ Passauer Neue Presse: Igelbuses should also run in winter, February 5, 2010